What is so important about the cook in 'Alice in Wonderland'?

Answer 1

There is nothing particularly important about the cook in Alice in Wonderland - she is just another character who Alice encounters during her adventures, and a fairly minor one at that.

She first appears in Chapter 6, Pig and Pepper, working in the house of the Duchess. It is as a result of her cooking that the kitchen is very smoky and peppery and causes Alice, the Duchess and her baby to sneeze. After Alice chats with the Duchess briefly, the cook throws a load of kitchen paraphernalia at the Duchess and her baby. She then resumes cooking and joins in the chorus of the Duchess' song, Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy.

It could be argued that the most important thing about her is that she is responsible for the Duchess' foul personality, as her bad temper appears to be caused by the peppery atmosphere in the kitchen. When Alice meets the Duchess later on, she is much more pleasant, which prompts Alice to decide that when she has her own kitchen she won't allow any pepper in it.

Some critics believe that the Cook's function in the story is to represent the working classes. It is claimed that the poorer strata of society at the time used to over-season much of their cooking in order to disguise the low quality or lack of freshness of the meats they were obliged to use. It has been suggested that the Cook may be satirising this phenomenon.

The cook next appears as a witness during the trial in Chapter 11, Who Stole the Tarts. As she is carrying her pepper-pot, the whole courtroom starts sneezing as she arrives, but she only utters three words during her testimony, 'shan't' and 'pepper, mostly'. Then she disappears.

Answer 2

The cook in "Alice in Wonderland" represents chaos and confusion through his unconventional cooking methods and erratic behavior. He highlights the absurdity and nonsensical nature of Wonderland, adding to the whimsical and unpredictable atmosphere of the story.